RV

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs
—5. Posters (Robin Williams)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads


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Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is a family man in desperate need of a holiday.

But the day before he and his family are to leave for Hawaii, Bob’s boss gives him a mandatory assignment, ordering Bob to postpone his family vacation. However, instead of completely canceling, Bob makes a last minute decision to rent an RV and take the family, unbeknownst to them, along on his business trip. A wacky adventure ensues full of bad driving, showers of fecal matter, crazy raccoons, and friendly folk of the mid-west.

Along with films like Tommy Boy, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, National Lampoon’s Family Vacation, and Dumb&Dumber, slap RV up on the long list of road-trip comedies. What is it about the premise of a road trip that allows hilarity to just flow from the writers, actors, and screen? Perhaps it is because all (or at least) most audience members can relate to the stress and weird happenings of a road trip. Or, more likely, perhaps it is just that road trip plots are so much fun because the characters can be taken anywhere to encounter anyone or anything and it’s always funny.

In all honesty, I did not expect much from this movie. I am a fan of Robin Williams and his latest work including One Hour Photo, Death to Smoochy, Insomnia, and the Final Cut. So when I saw the previews for a straight-up comedy starring Robin I was not all that intrigued. But on the contrary let me say that this movie delivered. It had me laughing time and time again. I found that I had missed the good ol’ wacky-Robin we all know and love.

I’m not sure why but I have found myself less and less likely to watch comedies these days. Perhaps it is because I’m growing older and more mature (though my mother would argue against that), or, more likely; comedies today tend to be more raunchy than funny. It seems that the only thing that makes people laugh today is sexual jokes. It was great to sit through a comedy that had no distasteful sexual jokes or even a hint of nudity. This movie is rated PG. I’m going to say that again… “This movie is rated PG!!!� Sorry, I’m just excited because that is such a rarity these days with live-action comedies. “Mom! I went to see a PG movie! Rejoice!�

There is little to no cursing in this film, however, the Lord’s name was taken in vain multiple times. Most of this comes from the mouth of Bob’s fifteen-year-old daugher, Cassie (JoJo), and, unfortunately, that is typical speech for a teenage girl.

I was so delighted to see so much slapstick comedy in this movie. The scene shown in the previews of Robin riding the RV by the windshield wipers while going downhill had me in stitches. That entire scene is reminiscent of something out of a Buster Keaton film.

Who knows if perhaps this was an homage to another classic road trip comedy, but one scene from RV seemed to be straight out of Tommy Boy, where Robin is getting washed down with a large hose while giggling like a little girl. I admit that I was singing in my head, “I’m a maniac, maniac…� Robin had not been cow tipping, but he was covered in fecal matter.

While delivering plenty of laughs, RV is also full of family values. Both families in the film, the Munros and the Gornickes (Jeff Daniels and co.), consisted of a married couple with two or more children and exemplified loving family units. Bob’s relationships with his children and his wife are realistically portrayed and all of their problems are worked out with love and consideration (at least, by the end of the movie). This film exemplifies tolerance and understanding for families.

The character of Bob’s son, Carl (Chris Hutcherson), was so much fun to watch. He tries to be a hard “gangsta� and is obsessed with working out and “getting ripped,� but by the end of the film you see that there’s a suburban little white boy underneath it all. He was just a fun character to watch. Bob Munro is a very lovable and relatable character. Bob’s dedication to his family was touching and, at times, inspiring. There were times when I could feel the love Bob had for his wife and children. I found myself saying, “That’s how I’m going to be when I’m a father.� As a family man himself, Robin obviously enjoyed this role.

I give RV two gold star-stickers, a blue one, and a red one. This is a great family film and I recommend it for a family outing. There are laughs for the whole family.

— Overview

Silent Hill

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Horror Films)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

Curious of her daughters constant sleep walking and accompanying nightmares, Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell) sets out on a mission to find the place mentioned during Sharon’s episodes. In route, a young girl steps into the road causing Rose’s Jeep to crash into the mountainside. Once Rose awakens she finds that her daughter, Sharon, is missing. In order to find Sharon, Rose must face the deepest and darkest of evils in the supposedly haunted city of Silent Hill. In the light, Rose is free to wonder the streets of Silent Hill, but when the darkness overcomes the city is full of undead monsters, demons, and villains. Meanwhile, outside of Silent Hill, Rose’s husband Christopher (Sean Bean) is on a desperate search to find his disappeared wife and daughter. Inside and outside of Silent Hill, a dark secret is hidden beneath the lies and deceit and only Rose can put the sordid pieces together.

By no means do I consider myself a “gamer,� although I do posses many traits that could classify me with the gaming community. The bottom line is that I absolutely stink at video games. I can only boast of four video games that I have beaten in my lifetime without the aid of cheat codes or “game genie� type assistance. However, about a year ago I rented a game called Silent Hill 2, oblivious to what I was getting myself into. I’m a fan of scary movies but scary video games were completely new to me. The game scared the pants off me, to say the least. Having experienced the video game, I have to boast the production of the film in that they completely recreated the feel of the video game. The progression of the plot mirrored the journey of the video game and yet kept the audience unawares.

The acting in a horror film can make or break the film and in this case, it made the film. I was impressed with the performance of Radha Mitchell, who carried the film. Laurie Holden who played Cybil Bennett, a femme fatale police officer in tight leather pants, shared this burden briefly. In some films of this same genre, the film is carried by the special effects but it was a relief to see a good, character driven horror film. While Radha and Laurie carry out the plot inside of Silent Hill, itself, Sean Bean’s character is involved in a plot outside of the city. I believe Sean Bean to be an underrated actor who always delivers a great performance. Also, I would love to hear him narrate some Discovery Channel specials; he’s got a great voice.

Two characters in this film brought such a great amount of impact to the movie: Jodelle Ferland, who played Rose’s daughter, Sharon, and Alice Krige, who played Christabella, the priestess and former school master of Silent Hill. Jodelle plays three parts in this film: Rose’s daughter, Sharon, the source of Silent Hill’s curse, Alessa Gillespie, and then a demon, or possibly, Satan. When Rose finally confronts “the demon� in the form of this little girl, Alessa, Rose inquires the name of the demon to which she replies, “I have many names.� Jodelle’s performance as the demon is absolutely, 100% creepy. I have to wonder if that was her delivering the lines or if she was overdubbed, because she was one well-spoken pre-teen. Alice Krige’s character, Christabella, was the character the audience loves to hate. She was the one who brought the curse upon Silent Hill by doing wrong to Alessa and her mother. Christabella is the leader of the small group of living people left in Silent Hill who are not welcoming to outsiders.

The direction and production of this film were great. There were two worlds in the film: outside of Silent Hill and inside. Once inside Silent Hill the weather was either dry with ashes falling from the sky or pitch black with rain. The two worlds were kept completely separate by the “ashy� look of Silent Hill. The two plots were defined by whether the audience saw crisp, vivid picture or ash-filled daylight.

Although some of the special effects looked a little corny at times (at one point the audience burst with laughter at the sight of one particular creature who walked with an awkward step) the film was altogether scary. The creatures of the Silent Hill, as in the video game, are terrifying. Roaches with human faces, scorched-undead-wailing children, zombie nurses, and a death-dealer wearing a huge triangular helmet and carrying a large sword similar to something out of Final Fantasy are amongst the hoard of evil in the film. There is not much blood or violence through the first two-thirds of the film, however the end of the film gets very gory. I think that was a good trick because the audience doesn’t really see that coming since there had been so little gore up to that point in the movie.

This film is full of Christian elements and overtones. In the second scene of the movie we see a billboard outside of a church building that reads, “Corinthians 6:2-3 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Do you not know that we will judge angels?� This billboard makes three appearances in the film, so it obviously had some significance. This verse can be found in 1 Corinthians and I found it odd that the sign did not specify which Corinthian letter the verse had come from. My guess is that it was just a creative decision. However, the subject of judgment is a constant theme in the film. While in a conversation with Christopher Da Silva, a police detective says, “There are three kinds of judgment: Man’s, God’s, and the Devil’s.�

Following clues that she hopes will lead to her daughter, Rose enters a school building. As she passes by the camera the shot focuses on the wall behind her. On the wall is painted a mural that quotes a verse from Psalms. I cannot remember the verse exactly, but it was somewhere around chapter 43 and it dealt, once again, with judgment.

Later in the film, Christabella and her congregation pray in unison a prayer from what sounded like Revelation 21. However, I could not pinpoint the exact Biblical reference.

I found the imagery interesting in that when the darkness would come and the undead attacked, the only safe place was the church atop of a hill. When Rose and Cybil join the group inside of the church they are accused of being witches and threatened to be killed. Christabella, learning of Rose’s situation, takes them and decides to help them. To prepare Rose for confronting “the demon,� Christabella asks one question: “Do you have faith?� Rose answers, “I love my daughter.� To which Christabella replies, “That’s not what I asked. Only your faith can save you.� It was so awesome to hear those words spoken in this film. I was thinking to myself, “Wow! That was a salvation message right there! How awesome.� To my dismay, that message was later dumbed down when Rose’s faith had nothing to do with the climax of the film and, in fact, the “faith� of Christabella and her menagerie is viewed as corrupt and evil. While telling Rose about what Christabella did to Alessa, the demon tells Rose to be careful what you use to battle evil because sooner or later evil will turn your own vices against you.

Christbella and her church are an example of over-zealous, judgmental Christians who think no one is worthy of salvation but themselves. However I was upset that amongst all this talk of good, evil, and judgment the names of God and Christ were never mentioned. Perhaps this was done to say that the church in this film was not necessarily a Christian church, however, the Bible references throughout the film alluded to such.

Although this film does not paint the brightest picture for Christianity’s sake, it does raise some interesting questions. The question, “Do you have faith?� could send an audience member home thinking about whether or not they have faith, or what they have faith in. The ending, which I dare not reveal, also raises a question of life after death. Both of these facts in the movie could be an easy opening to a discussion of salvation.

Overall, I give Silent Hill two thumbs and a big toe up. Waiting for video would not be a bad idea, but I definitely recommend the film to fans of the video game and horror genres.

— Overview